AS the season came to a conclusion for 2025, clubs around the county enjoyed a bountiful Christmas-New Year with a vast number of scores throughout the holiday period.

Tournament semi-finals and finals attracted fine attendances, as did the host of challenge, club and RNLI fundraising fixtures that were played daily from Christmas Eve up to Sunday, January 4th.

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Christmas Eve saw the Togher Cross club host their club fundraiser. Here, David Hegarty beat Cathal Creedon by the last shot, for €3,100 a-side. In a score that saw the lead exchange hands, Hegarty’s incredible bowl from the back of Cronin’s Garage that made the school yard car park helped turn this one in his favour. In a return score, also at Togher, Darren Harrington beat Sidney Shannon by one bowl for €2,770 a-side.

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The annual Ballinacurra junior A nine-man tournament kicked off on Christmas Eve where Denis Wilmot made a great comeback to beat Conor Creedon and Sean Murphy, playing for a three-way stake of €2,700 a-side. As we reached the business end, we were down to two with the battle between Wilmot and Murphy. Wilmot got a great bowl to go out of sight for the finish line and Murphy missed this to give Wilmot his first lead of the score. Murphy missed the finish line, but Wilmot lined his well and booked his place in the final. In a return score Ronan O’Donovan beat Gearoid Lucey by the last shot, for €1,350 a-side.

On St Stephen’s Day, David Hegarty won the second semi-final when he beat Noel O’Donovan and Noel O’Regan by two bowls and last shot, playing for €4,600 a-side. In a return score Jim Coffey beat Kevin Ó’Crualaoi by a big last shot for €3,650 a-side.

Saturday, 27th, saw the third semi-final between David Shannon, Andrew O’Callaghan and Cian Boyle, playing for a total stake of €15,000.

With Shannon in the lead after 12, we got a twist in the tale. O’Callaghan knocked the bowl of odds with a huge 13th shot, and a dip in form from O’Callaghan and Shannon up the home straight let Boyle right back into this score. Boyle opened the last bend, Shannon missed this tip and O’Callaghan beat both tips to have big odds for the last shot. Shannon and Boyle both missed the line and incredibly O’Callaghan was too far left and missed the line also, but he had 35 metres on Shannon and four metres on Boyle for the last shots.

Shannon dropped his last shot and it turned in left. Boyle got an average bowl, and O’Callaghan beat it well to set up a Denis Wilmot v David Hegarty v Andrew O’Callaghan final in late January. In a return score, Ronan O’Donovan beat Con Cronin by one bowl for €600 a-side.

Gary Daly and Aidan Murphy with referee Christy Mullins ahead of their RNLI Fundraising score in Castletownbere.

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The annual RNLI fundraiser drew the crowds to Castletownbere over Christmas. The West Cork pair of Shane Crowley and Brian O’Driscoll got the weekend off to a winning start when they beat Timmy McDonagh and Anthony Crowley by the last shot for a stake of €8,400 a-side. In a return score Jimmy O’Brien beat Eoin McCarthy by one bowl, playing for a total stake of €50,000.

All financial records were broken for the senior score between Aidan Murphy and Gary Daly when they played for a total stake of €110,000.

Not a great first shot from either player, with Murphy two feet in front, but both settled with a good second bowls back of the Grotto, Daly ahead by 20 metres but it was to be his only lead. Murphy got an unreal third shot, up full sight at the truck park, while Daly’s third broke left and missed tip by 50 metres and only made the end of the truck park with his next.

Murphy unleashed another huge bowl and went full sight at the Graveyard bend with his fifth where he had a full bowl of odds. Daly held it to the bowl around the double chicanes, and at the council yard in ten and 11 it was just under the bowl by two metres.

After three more to the junior line Murphy extended his lead to 30 metres with the bowl. Daly got a good 16th up the last straight that knocked the bowl briefly, and when Murphy lined a huge 16th up the left hand track it was enough for Daly to shake hands.

Back down in the final score of Sunday’s fixtures Wayne Parkes had a victory over Timmy McDonagh. When McDonagh caught a stone in the left with his ninth, Parkes grasped the opportunity to take this score when he lined a perfect last shot that beat the finish line to win by a bowl of odds.

Scores continued the following day (Monday) at Castletownbere where Noel O’Donovan and Conor Creedon got proceedings underway, playing for a stake of €8,000 a-side. Honours went to O’Donovan, who timed his run well after Creedon’s lead was dented by a blunder with his 11th shot.

A mixed doubles was the return score, as Jimmy O’Driscoll teamed up with Hannah Cronin to play the South West pair of David Hegarty and Ellen Sexton for a stake of €25,000 a-side. There were three good opening bowls from the South West pair, and after a perfect fourth from Sexton, they had a full bowl of odds heading for the chicane.

At the bridge in seven each, the South West pair were throwing their odds over ten metres. Hegarty got a good bowl to Harrington’s, but Hannah Cronin got an exceptional bowl to the lower pillar at the layby. Sexton hit back with a good bowl but just fell short of full sight at the graveyard bend. O’Donovan made full sight and then came a dramatic twist for the South West pair when Hegarty caught the end of the wall and they dropped substantial odds.

After Cronin made the graveyard entrance and Sexton got a poor bowl, suddenly the South West odds were down to 20 metres. How O’Driscoll’s 11th shot came out of a drain two feet deep baffled all, and it ran another 50 metres. Hegarty’s bowl went the same direction but no such luck for him: his bowl stopped dead. After two more poor bowls from the South West pair, O’Driscoll and Cronin won by almost a bowl.

Next up we had Cathal Creedon playing Anthony Crowley for a stake of €21,000 a-side. This was another thriller, bookended by exceptional shots from Creedon, the first that helped him to a bowl of odds, while towards the end when the score was level, Creedon worked his incredible right hand pull and did the impossible and went full sight at the last bend. There was nothing Crowley could do, only go sight also and his start cost him at least a last shot.

The final score of the weekend was between Brian Horgan and Kevin Ó Crualaoi played back for a stake of €12,500 a-side. Heading for the graveyard bend, Ó Crualaoi had valuable metres as he could see the wall. Horgan was caught, but put down a tight bowl with his ninth shot that Ó Crualaoi only beat by 20 metres. Two poor next bowls from Horgan past the truck park left him almost a bowl down – it’s almost impossible to win if you’re a bowl down at this juncture. Ó Crualoai went on to win by almost a bowl.

At the presentation of funds to the three charities, chairman of the Castletownbere club thanked all the players and all the supporters that travelled the long distance to make the weekend the success that it was. Presentations were made to the RNLI of €8,500, to Castletownbere Day Care centre of €4,225 and Cancer Connect of €4,225. All recipients were on hand to accept and thanked the club for their very generous donations.